The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1887-01-21


conflicting currents, but resolutely
slcamlng on-such is tho audacity of
mmn-and pokiny her venturesome
nose into the boiling foam under tho
Horseshoe. On tho deck arc pigmy
passengers in oil-skin suits. clumsy
figures. like arctic explorers. The boat
losses about like Il chip. it hcsitalcs and
aulvers. and then slowly swinging. darts
away down the current, fleeing from the
wrath OF the waters, and pursued BY
The angry roar.
Surely it il an island of magic, un-
substantial, liable to go adrift aud
plunge into tho canon. Even in the
forest path. where the great tree trunks
assure one os stability and long inn
munity. this feeling cannot be shaken
off, Our party descended the winding
staircase in tho tower. and walked on
tho shelf under the mighty ledge to the
entrance of the Cave of the Winds.
Tho curtain of water covering this en-
trance was blown back and forth by
tho wind, now leaving the platform dry
and now dcluging it, From this plat
form one looks down the narrow Slip
perry stairs that arc lost in the boiling
MIST, and wonders ut tho daring that
built these steps down into that hell
and carried the frail walks of planks
over the powders outside the fall
party in oil-skins making their way
there, looked like lost men and women
in Dante Inferno. The turbulent
waters dashed all about them; the mist
occasionally wrapped them from sight;
they clung to the rails, they tried to
speak to each other; their gestures
seemed motions of despair. Could that
be Eurydicc whom the rough guide WAS
tonderly drag ring out of the hell of
waters, up the stony path, that singular
figure in oil-skin trousers, who dis
closed a pretty face inside her hood rs
she cmerged9 One might venture into
the Internal regions to rescue such
woman; but why tako her there? The
group of adventures stopped u moment
on the platform, with tho opening into
misty cavern for n background, and the
artist said that the picture was, beyond
all power of the pencil, strange and
fantastic. There is nothing. after all,
that the human race will not dare for
new sensation.
The walk around Goat Island is prob
ably unsurpassed in the world for
wonder and beauty. The Americans
have every reason to be satisfied with
their share of the fall; they get nowhere
one single grand view like that from
the Canada side. but infinitely the deep
est impression of majesty and power il
obtained on Goat Island. There the
spectator is in the midst of the war of
nature. From the point over the Horse
shoe Fall our friends, speaking not
much, but more and more deeply
moved, strolled along i'm the lovely
forest, in n rural solemnity, in II local
calm, almost q secusion, except for the
ever-present shuddering roar in the air.
On the shore above the Horseshoe they
first comprehcnded the breadth, the
great sweep, of the rapids. The white
crests OF the waves in the west were
coming out from under black, lower
ing sky; all the foreground was in
bright sunlight. dancing, sparkling.
leaping, hrrrying on, converging to- the
angle where the water becomes deep
emerald at the break and plunge. The
rapids above are series of shelves,
bristling with jutting rocks and lodged
trunks Of trees, and the wildness of the
scene is intensified by the ragged
fringe of cvergreens on the opposite
shore.
Over the whole island the mist, rising
from the caldron, drifts in spray when
the wind is favorable; but on this day
the forest was bright and cheerful, and
as the strollers went farther away from
the Great Fall, the beauty of the scene
began to steal away its terror. The
roar was still dominant, but far of and
softened, and did not crush the car.
The triple islands. the Three Sisters in
their picturesque wildncss, appeared
like playful freaks of nature in mo-
mentary relaxation of the savage mood.
Here is the finest view of the river; to
one standing on the outcrmost island
the great flood seems tumbling out OF
the sky. They continued along the
bank of the river. The shallow stream
races by headlong, but close to the edge
arc numerous eddies, and places where
one might step in and not be swept
away. AT length they reached the
point where the river divides. and the
water stands for an instant almost still,
hesitating whether to take the Canadian
or the American plunge. Out little
way from the shore the waves leap and
tumble, and the two currents are like
race-horses parted on two ways to the
goal. Just ut this point the water
swirls and fingers, having lost all its
fierceness and haste, and spreads itself
ont placidly, dinpling in the sun. 1t
may be u trcacherous pause, this water
may bc us cruel as that which RACES be-
low and cxults in catching a boat or q
man and bounding with the victim over
the cataract; but the calm was very
grateful TO the stunned and buffeted
visitors; upon their Jared nerves it was
like the peace of God. - Charles Dudley
UdyWcg. in Ud9Der's Mdqazine